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Paddington supremacy continues. The last year has seen the beloved Peruvian bear expand his portfolio to encompass a third film, a permanent London immersive experience, and his own limited edition run of Time Out magazine. Next up: Paddington the Musical.
Announced at the tail-end of 2023, the musical has been in development since and this autumn it’ll hopefully be ready for its debut at the Savoy Theatre. Much of the details are the same as was teased previously: it’s still going to be written by playwright Jessica Swale with songs by McFly mainstay and kids’ author Tom Fletcher; the director is still Luke Sheppard, who has admittedly become an even bigger in the world of family friend musicals since the initial announcement thanks to his work on the smash revival of Starlight Express.
We don’t officially know a huge amount about the show beyond that, but cast is now (as of August 21) confirmed as Timi Akinyosade (Tony), Amy Booth-Steel (Lady Sloane), Tarinn Callender (Grant), Delilah Bennett-Cardy (Judy Brown), Adrian Der Gregorian (Mr. Brown), Tom Edden (Mr Curry), Brenda Edwards (Tanya), Amy Ellen Richardson (Mrs. Brown), Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Millicent Clyde), Teddy Kempner (Mr Gruber), Bonnie Langford (Mrs Bird).
There are two major points you can deduce from this. The first is that it seems fairly likely the musical will be a straight up remake of the first (2014) Paddington film – evil taxidermist Millicent Clyde is a character that was invented for the movie, and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (who plays her on stage) is probably the biggest name out of the cast. We were already promised that Paddington the Musical would be the story of how he came to London again – but it seems likely to will specifically adhere to the film version.
The second: where’s Paddington in the cast list? Rumours abound that he’ll be played by a puppet, but why would you keep this a secret? There are various reasons, but one might be that a certain famous actor who does his voice in the films, cartoon and Immersive Experience is also on board albeit in pre-recorded form. We’d put a tenner on it being Ben Whishaw, basically, although that comes with the caveat that somebody else would surely have to sing for him live. Whatever the case, all shall be revealed soon.
There is no word on casting, though rumour has it the bear himself with be a puppet rather than a bloke in a bear suit.
Paddington the Musical is at the Savoy Theatre from Nov 1. Tickets are on sale now.
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